The present invention relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine, to an apparatus for carrying out the method and to an internal combustion engine suitable for the method.
Internal combustion engines, particularly in motor vehicles or commercial vehicles, are often designed as diesel engines for reasons of efficiency and, to meet environmental regulations, have exhaust gas aftertreatment devices, such as SCR catalytic converters and/or exhaust gas recirculation devices. In this case, it is not possible to make optimum use of the exhaust gas enthalpy contained in the exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine. Moreover, high exhaust gas recirculation rates impose a load on the cooling circuit of the internal combustion engine, which are generally liquid-cooled internal combustion engines, due to the required re-cooling of the exhaust gases by means of appropriate exhaust gas coolers, if appropriate in combination with additional low-temperature circuits.